Adaptation
by MJ4
Summary: Set 9 months after Voyager returned to Earth. Seven is having nightmares, but are these just nightmares or could they fortell something much worse? New chapter up, finally!
1. prologue

Disclaimer: Star Trek and all characters are the property of people much richer than I will ever be (sadly). I take no profit from this story (except the warm fuzzy feeling I get writing it, and getting reviews…many reviews).

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Adaptation

Prologue

            They move as one, think as one, do everything as one. All around her the 'drones' that form the single mind of the collective operate for a single purpose, a single goal. But something is amiss, something is wrong, something intangibly different. The voices that at one time were a perfect harmony, billions of voices all could be heard within the confines of the one mind, are now stilted, almost incomprehensible. As one they acted, but as many they fall, collapsing in on themselves as at once, in that split nanosecond, their purpose becomes unclear. Chaos comes to order as the voices ring out individually for the first time in millennia. Some celebrate freedom from oppression, no longer are they forced to listen, to act by a single mind not completely their own, yet a part of them. Others cry out as, for the first time, they are forced to adapt to the semblance of individuality that is as alien to them as was the collective to others. Many shut themselves down, unable to cope with the trauma of change, unable to adapt to the complete loss of control, and the feeling of loneliness that occurs in that split second of time. Yet something stirs. In the deep recesses of what was once a perfect, ordered single mind, something stirs, and all at once things change. Those that had become individual, if only for the briefest of moments are consumed as the feeling of collective is restored. Some, however, are unable to be brought back into the hive mind and so are terminated as imperfection. All this she sees before her, and she cannot fathom what is happening, all around her changes into what she knows and yet cannot comprehend. She is scared and in awe all at once as those beings around her who, just seconds before, were being forced to accept their individuality are now within the single mind again. No longer is there an individual to bring order to chaos, they have been forced to evolve, to adapt, and are now ready to continue to pursue their goal. Yet something within that goal is different, somehow more defined. She looks on in horror as an individual she recognises approaches from the darkness before her, though she cannot understand who it is, and all at once she hears the voice, voices, from her nightmares returning to chill her again as they had done on countless occasions, the voices of her past, present and future.

"Seven of Nine"

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A/N: Ok, so this is my first attempt at writing a Star Trek story so if you don't like it, err…tell me why! Or if you do like it and want to read more tell me. In fact, if you've read this tell me, I like reviews!


	2. Dreams

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Star Trek or its subsidiaries. I do not own any of its characters, and only have control over the story itself. Any similarities to people living or dead is so almost impossible to calculate (I making this story up) that I take no responsibility. Apart from that, enjoy!

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            Seven awoke with a start. She was sat up in bed, a data padd by her side with the warp schematics she had been asked to look over by Starfleet Command still evident on its shining, black backed screen, with a pillow propped up behind her. She could feel the sweat all over her body, sticking her blue nightdress to her skin. As she looked around the room, she began to feel calmer as her senses returned to normal. Beside her lay her lover, who still breathed heavily in his sleep and for this Seven was thankful, she really didn't want to have to explain her dream to him again. She paused briefly thinking. It was the same dream she had been having almost every night for the past eight months.

Since Voyager had returned to Earth from the Delta quadrant she had felt at peace with herself and her past to an extent that she would never have thought possible. Not at first of course, those first tumultuous weeks had been anything but peaceful. Continuous briefings with Starfleet Command, not to mention the endless medical examinations Starfleet Medical had forced upon her. They had said that it was so that they could 'understand her physiology better for future examinations'. It was all a façade really, she was human after all; they just wanted to know how the Borg implants that still operated within her body continued to function without a link to the Collective, especially since the reports from Voyager's crew had said that the Borg had been completely destroyed through the destruction of the Queen and the Borg central hub. She felt herself begin to perspire again as she thought back to those examinations. Though none of them were painful, they were not at all gratifying or enjoyable, but at least she had had her friends, and her newly reintroduced family, around her.

Again she looked towards the sleeping form lying to her right and allowed herself a small smile. Slowly, and with hardly making the soft mattress beneath her move, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, placing the padd onto the small bedside table next to her. She was glad that she had finally been talked into sleeping in a normal bed rather than having to regenerate alone in her 'alcove', especially as she could share the time with Chakotay and explore her 'human nature', as the Doctor had so eloquently put it. Almost silently, so as not to wake him, she slipped around the edge of the bed to the door, which quietly 'hissed' open as she approached. Stepping through it she moved into the main living room of the apartment which, through three large windows almost the same height as the room itself, showed a brilliant view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. She checked the time; it was still only 0600 in the morning and the rays of the slowly rising sun reflected beautifully off of the Bridges finish, whilst the first early morning 'commuters' began to shuttle into Starfleet Command. She sighed and moved towards a small desk at the far side of the room by the replicator, which was surrounded by a small, two-seater couch and two easy chairs. She slowly lowered herself into one of the chairs, she still wasn't entirely used to the softness of the cushions beneath her but had been told that in time she would find it relaxing and, pressing a button on the console built into the desk, activated a monitor which rose out from it. After a few quick, typed commands she waited for the screen to show the image of the individual she wanted to speak to. Within a few seconds the screen became bright as an image appeared before her.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," said a cheery voice through the speakers. Looking at the monitor Seven couldn't help but smile at the visage of Voyagers former Chief Medical Officer who was sat wearing what appeared to be a long blue and white striped robe and a long blue hat with a white bobble on the end.

"Please tell me you didn't dress up just to talk to me," she said, unable to hide the slight smile at the corner of her lips.

"Seven, how wonderful to talk to you" beamed the Doctor. "Glad to see that you're still working on that sense of humour of yours. Now, what seems to be the trouble or are you just wanting to talk to someone with stirring conversation to start your day?" Seven looked at the Doctors jovial face and wondered whether she should be telling him what she was about to say, but then he had told her to keep him informed, something she hadn't done for a while. Her features hardened slightly before she began, her voice slightly stilted.

"Do you remember the dreams I spoke to you about a few weeks ago?"

"The ones where you started having naughty thoughts about Commander Chakotay and…"

"No" she snapped. The Doctor looked into her eyes, as best he could through the monitor screen.

"No. I didn't really think it would be" he sighed. His face changed from that of just an interested friend to a much more professional demeanour, which was sadly lost due to his bobble hat which continued to dangle down the left side of his head. "Are these dreams causing you much trouble? Any physical pain?"

"No" she answered again. The Doctor continued to look up at her concerned.

"Was this dream any different from those which you previously talked to me about?" he asked.

"No" she answered, a little to quickly. The Doctor just stared at her, waiting for her to add more. After about thirty seconds she sighed, and slowly added, "There was…it seemed more real"

"Anything else?" he pushed.

"There was an individual advancing toward me"

"Did you recognise them?"

"No," she paused, considering, "and yet, there was something…familiar about him"

"Seven" began the Doctor, his tone now one of the consummate professional. "Have you informed anyone at Starfleet Medical about these dreams, or perhaps any other doctor or counsellor who could…"

"No" she answered again. "And I would prefer it if you didn't either" she added, perhaps a little to forcefully.

"Of course not" replied the Doctor, sounding slightly wounded that she would even consider he would break her confidence. "But perhaps you would at least allow _me_ to conduct a scan of your cortical node, to at least check that it isn't detecting anything unusual or otherwise hindering you" Seven sighed.

"Very well, but it will have to be after 1800 hours I'm…busy until then"

"Alright then, 1800 hours, my lab" the Doctor agreed. "Oh and Seven, say hello to your Aunt Irene for me" he smiled warmly before deactivating the comm unit. Seven sighed, it would have been foolish to think that the Doctor didn't know that she was going to see her family today and that was why she was busy, she had probably mentioned it to him without thinking last time they had talked, but though she was happy with her family, she still tried to keep family and friends as separate as she could. She sighed again, resigned to the fact that eventually both would meet for more than just a 'welcome home' party. She deactivated the console and stood up. With one last look out of the window she headed back toward the bedroom and the shower.

            The Doctor examined the specimen in front of him. On a large desk, within a clear container, was what looked like a rather large ant standing on the rear two of its six legs, its antennae moving around the edge of the container searching for a way out. The Doctor inputted a few notes onto the padd he was holding, whilst continuing to hum to himself before a chime at the door interrupted him. Turning his head towards the door he said cheerfully,

"Come in" A moment later the doors slid open to reveal Seven in a dark grey V-neck top and light blue trousers, her long blonde hair falling around her shoulders. Chakotay obviously had something to do with the way she was dressed today, the Doctor thought to himself. "Ah Seven, right on time as usual. Please come in," the Doctor smiled, gesturing for her to come into the room and pointed towards a glass-encased office near the door. As she entered he turned back toward the specimen and hit a small control on the console within the desk, the light around the container going out and plunging the room into semi-darkness before he moved toward the office himself. "Sorry about the lack of illumination" he said apologetically, "but most of the test subjects don't react well to bright lights" Seven examined the room through the glass of the office wall and asked,

"What exactly are the 'subjects' here for?"

"I'm working on a way of repairing the synaptic pathways within the brain using a variation of the technique we used on Iko" he replied happily.

"And the insects?"

"They're 'specially bred with similar synaptic responses as humans," he answered, his face beaming with enthusiasm. "If I'm right we may be able to repair many degenerative brain conditions or even prevent them in the first place. If you're interested I'm sure I could get you a copy of my work for you to read over…"

"Perhaps another time" she interrupted.

"Yes, well, perhaps" he replied, sounding slightly dejected. "But any way, I'm forgetting my manners, please, sit-down" he said, motioning Seven towards a chair before moving himself behind his desk and settling himself down into a large swivel chair, placing his padd onto the desk in front of him. "Now, what was the problem again?" he asked kindly. Seven shuffled slightly uncomfortably.

"The dreams I've been having recently…"

"Ah yes" interrupted the Doctor. He quickly got up again and, picking up a tricorder from the edge of his desk, proceeded to scan Seven. "Hmmm" he muttered. "Someone hasn't taken this weeks injection yet have they?"

"The injection isn't required until tomorrow" she informed him.

"Still, as you're not having to use your alcove you have to take the injections in order to provide the nanoprobes with their required energy outputs in order to maintain your Borg implants" he said, moving toward a stack of shelves and removing a hypospray. "I don't think it'll hurt if we do this a day early" he continued as he inputted the dosage into the hypospray and pressed it against Seven's neck with a hiss. He then placed the hypo onto the desk and continued to scan her. "Your cortical stimulator seems to be unusually active" he inputted something into the tricorder then looked at the former Borg sat before him. "Have you been suffering any headaches? Are you under any form of heightened stress?"

"No" answered Seven bluntly, not looking up at the Doctor.

"Hmmm" the Doctor muttered, he didn't entirely believe that Seven was telling him everything. "Tell me more about these dreams"

"What would you like to know?" she replied, finally looking up at him as he returned to his seat.

"What _exactly_ do you see? How do they make you feel? Anything that you haven't already told me that might help to explain these readings" he said, pointing towards the closed tricorder that now sat on the desk between them. Seven paused, thinking the Doctor assumed. Her face looked as stoic as ever, but there was just something in her responses that made him think that, maybe, she was hiding something. Before she was able to reply though a chirping sound came form the monitor behind him. Apologising he turned and activated the comm unit to show an image of a women, in a Starfleet uniform with a blue collar (medical the Doctor surmised), sat behind a large desk, a padd in hand.

"Doctor…" began the women, searching the padd for his name. The Doctor smiled, he had considered giving himself a name after he returned to Earth but decided that after almost eight years without one it was probably to late for his friends to stop calling him Doctor, not only that but he was quite used to it now.

"Just Doctor I'm afraid" he informed the woman, smiling.

"Of course" said the women. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but is Annika Hansen with you?" The Doctor tilted his head to one side and then answered,

"One moment" He turned to face Seven, a perplexed look on his face. "It's for you," he said motioning towards the monitor. Seven looked up at the Doctor, the same look of confusion in her eyes, then got up out of her chair and moved towards the monitor.

"Can I have a moment?" she asked.

"Yes, sorry" answered the Doctor and, picking up his padd from the desk, moved outside the confines of his office. Pretending to read the padd he tried to keep an eye on Seven, if only just to try and work out what the women on the monitor wanted. After a few minutes the screen went blank. Without looking at the Doctor, Seven turned and strode toward the exit. "Seven?" asked the Doctor, "what's wrong?" he pushed. Seven ignored him and marched passed as the doors slid open to allow her exit. "Seven, what's…" the Doctor started again, but the door closed before him. "Wrong?"

            Chakotay sat in an armchair in his apartment. Before him he had a mug of Andorian ale, and he was happily enthralled in reading a novel about the 22nd century space pioneers. Most of it was fictional, but still, it was quite exciting. Unlike many people, he was able to relate quite well with the characters in the novel as his own experience in the Delta quadrant had introduced him to many new species for the first time without being able to rely on anyone else but his shipmates. It was also very rare that he got chance to just sit and read peacefully as he had been asked by Starfleet Academy to teach a class on Delta quadrant species. Why they had chosen him he wasn't quite sure, there must have been people better qualified to teach a class, but he had a feeling that Admiral Janeway had had a part to play in it. Well at least he had been able to keep his rank of Commander. He reached out to pick up his mug when he was interrupted by a chirping coming from the desk before him. Putting his novel down he pressed a button on the small console imbedded in the desk to accept the call, a small screen rising from it. Not recognising the woman sat before him he said,

"Hello?"

"Mr. Chakotay?" came the woman's response. As Chakotay looked at her he noticed she was wearing what looked to be a Starfleet sciences, or medical uniform.

"Yes" he answered.

"Sorry to bother you, but is Annika Hansen with you" Chakotay stared at the woman, a quizzical look in his eye.

"Not at the moment, she's visiting a friend. Can I take a message?" The woman on the screen sighed.

"I'm afraid not, it's very important I speak to her. Can you tell me her whereabouts?"

"She's visiting a friend, the Doctor, in the Experimental Research wing of Starfleet Medical. Can I ask what this is about?"

"I'm afraid this is a family matter. Thank you for your assistance" The woman finished curtly. The screen went blank as she cut the transmission. Chakotay paused for a minute thinking. The woman would no doubt be communicating with Seven at this moment, so it would be a waste of time trying to get through to her at this minute.

She had said it was a family matter, what could have happened? She had only left her Aunt about 2 hours ago, could something have happened to her in that time?

He checked the time. He had waited a few minutes, long enough. He reactivated the comm unit to get in touch with the Doctor; Seven wasn't carrying a communicator with her. A moment later the Doctor's face appeared on the screen, and Chakotay could see that he looked almost as confused as he was.

"Doctor, is Seven there?" he asked quickly, before the Doctor could say anything.

"No. She just left a moment ago. Do you know what's going on? She didn't look very happy"

"I'm not entirely sure. A woman called here saying that she needed to talk to Seven and that it was a family matter. Are you sure Seven didn't say anything to you?" he pushed, starting to feel quite agitated.

"Sadly not" the Doctor said, leaning forward in his chair and beginning to push buttons outside of the radius of the view screen. "I'm trying to trace where the call came from" he informed Chakotay. "Ah, here we go" Chakotay watched as the Doctors face fell. "If I were you I would leave immediately. The call came from the hospital wing of Starfleet Command. I don't know what kind of a family problem would require Seven to go there, but I would think that your support might be needed. I'll meet you there as soon as I can" As soon as the Doctor finished talking, the screen went dead. Chakotay jumped out of his seat and charged towards the door, his mug falling to the floor, spilling its contents.

            Seven was lead down the corridor into a single room by a young nurse, who looked like she had only recently graduated from medical school. In the bed before her she could see her Aunt Irene lying on her back, monitoring devices attached to her temples. Above the bed a large screen was showing her Aunts vital signs, thankfully they seemed to be steady for the moment. She turned to the nurse.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"She collapsed whilst she was out in the main shopping district, and hit her head against a nearby post. As the nearest hospital equipped to deal properly with head trauma she was brought in here. She has been unconscious ever since. She seems to have suffered from some form of congenital defect within the brain, which led to a haemorrhage of some kind. Why it happened now and not been detected before, we don't know. Other than the fact that it's occurred, we don't know what's wrong" the nurse admitted, her blue eyes looking up at Seven with compassion. Seven stared at her Aunt, her own face showing no signs of emotion. She turned to the nurse and, trying to keep her voice steady said,

"Would you mind giving me some time alone with her?" motioning toward the bed. The nurse smiled kindly at Seven.

"Of course" she said, tuning to leave. "I'll be down the corridor if you need me" Seven watched as the young nurse walked out of the room, her short auburn hair swinging lightly behind her. Seven turned back to her Aunt, a mixture of emotions filling her. Only a few hours ago she had been with her and there had been no problems. Actually, her Aunt had seemed in great spirits. She was going to New Zealand in a week to spend time with some friends, who were as much like her family as Seven was. She stepped towards the bed and slowly placed her hand around her Aunts. The slow beating of the instruments the only sound she could hear as it relayed the sound of her Aunts heartbeat. She could feel tears welling up into her eyes, a feeling she hadn't felt very often. It was at times like these she wished she had never tried to allow her human emotions to surface again, wished she could stay aloof from her feelings. She looked down at her Aunts chest as it rose and fell slowly, listened to the beating of her heart and the sound of breathing. She stopped, the sound of breathing? It wasn't coming from her Aunt, whose breathing was extremely shallow, not life threateningly so, but so quiet she couldn't hear it. The breathing continued. It sounded almost like a mechanical lung was assisting whomever it was she could hear, its rhythmic sound extremely familiar. She looked up from her Aunt towards the windows that looked out over the grounds of Starfleet Command and her heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be. Before her she could see what she had only seen in her nightmares for the past eight months, but this was real, looking at her. She tried to scream as it raised its right arm, fitted with what looked to be a large syringe-like object at the end of it, a flickering silver light blinked at its tip, but no sound escaped her mouth. She tried to move away, but her Aunts hand seemed to now be holding her in a vice-like grip, rather than her holding her Aunt. The humanoid moved a step toward her, its mechanically assisted joints whirring as it stretched its muscles; its pale face stared at her with dead, surgically enhanced eyes. Then the voice, voices, from her nightmare rang out again.

"Seven of Nine"

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A/N: Ok, lets clarify some stuff. This story is based about 9 months after Voyager has returned home (yes I know it says 8 months at the top, but that's only how long she's been having the dream!) Seven is still called Seven by her friends from Voyager, but family etc refer to her as Annika as it is her name. If you don't like how human she seems, well unlucky for you. I figured she would be acting more human after almost a year on Earth (it would make more of a difference than just being on Voyager!) In case you haven't realised, I'm British hence trousers. If you don't know what trousers are, they're what Americans call pants (but that's something different again)

Hopefully you enjoyed this, there will be more, and please leave a review! Cheers!


	3. Starfleet Medical

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Star Trek or its subsidiaries. I do not own any of its characters, and only have control over the story itself. Any similarities to people living or dead or any other fics is purely coincidental, so there!

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            Darkness. It was all she could see, all she could purvey.

Darkness. There was no light, no sense of being. All there was was she, her thoughts, and nothing more.

For the first time since she had returned to Earth she felt frightened. She had felt uncomfortable at times, sometimes even unsure, but never had she been scared like she was now, not even that first time those many years ago.

Gradually she began to perceive sounds, faint at first but growing with intensity as her mind was finally able to reach out into the darkness that surrounded her. The sounds that now were the only thing that she could latch onto took over her whole, and with every noise her fear grew.

All around her, she could hear them moving. Servo assisted joints propelling the creatures surrounding her. The loud, echoing crashes of machinery the only break in the cacophony of whirring. The sound of mechanically assisted lungs drawing breath into the humanoid beings about her. Even without her sight she knew where she was, and the thought repulsed her. The sounds of the beings around her grew in intensity as she heard a number of them approach her immobile form, and felt their cold breath against her warm skin.

A painfully bright, white light filled her vision, like someone forcing her to look up at a sun through a telescope. The intense light burning against the back of her retina like a hot poker against skin. Almost as quickly as it had come, it disappeared, somehow leaving her with the sense of some control over her body. With a great effort she forced herself to open her eyes, if only to try and confront the fear she again felt gripping her like a vice. At first she could see nothing, except the remnants of the bright white light, but slowly, gradually, her eyes began to focus on her surroundings, and what she saw did nothing to dispel her fears.

Around her stood three of the half organic, half technological beings. Their pale, black lined faces staring down at her with dead, emotionless eyes. With a quiet whirring sound the being to her right raised its arm and began moving some form of scanning device over her body. She went to move herself off of the cold metal table that she was laid upon, but found that her muscles wouldn't, or couldn't, work. Instead she continued to stare up into the faces of her captors, an ever growing sense of dread spreading through her as memories flooded back to the first time it happened to her, and the many times that she had participated in the desecration of the individuality of others. She looked up with hate in her eyes to be met with the blank stare of a creature that neither understood her feelings, nor wished to. Instead it stared impassively at its scanning device, its blue hued eyes showing no emotion as it read Sevens' vital signs from the screen before it. She looked around madly at the three beings seemingly towering over her, and she felt her hate and anger growing with every passing second. If she could just move she would find a way to end this.

She felt the creatures' hand upon her own. It held her left hand firmly, yet tenderly within its own and slowly rubbed its thumb across her palm. She looked down. This was strange, a response she would never have expected from these cold, callous creatures and yet this one event seemed reminiscently familiar. She turned to look at the creature stood on her left that held her hand and, to her surprise, found that it wasn't stood by her at all. Instead she found it sat on a small chair that had been positioned next to the cold, metal table that she was laid upon.

Confusion filled her mind. These creatures were not acting normally. Perhaps the events in the Delta quadrant, those 9 months previously really had affected these beings in ways that no one could have expected. She looked up into the face of the being sat by her and her confusion was replaced with a mixture of fear and anger. Staring down at her, his brown eyes shining brightly, she was horrified to see the face of her lover. His tanned skin now deathly pale, with black lines tracing his face, but clearly Chakotay. With her horror growing she turned toward the creature scanning her and recognised the young nurse who had escorted her to her Aunts bedside. She looked toward the end of the table to the third of the creatures and recognised her closest friend, yet couldn't comprehend how such a thing could have happened.

The Doctor stared up at her from the far end of the 'bed', his entire body as the other two, covered in metallic armour with tubes extending from joints and 'muscles'. She again turned and looked up at her lover, who had begun to tighten his grip on her hand as if in response to her movements. She opened her mouth to cry out, but no sound emerged. She attempted to pull her hand away from the gruesome creature that had taken the form of her partner, but found she had neither the strength nor the control of her muscles to perform such a feat. Instead she closed her eyes as tight as she could and tried to block the sights and sounds that surrounded her out of her mind, only to be brought back to reality by the mechanically synthesised sound of her lovers pleading voice.

"Seven"

            She screamed and pushed him off of her. The chair tipped backwards as his weight shifted quickly without control. He fell to the floor hard, banging his head and leaving him slightly dazed. He heard the muffled sound of the Doctors feet against the carpeted floor as he moved quickly to his side, only for him to wave the attention of his friend away from himself toward the hysterical form writhing on the bed. He pushed himself off of the ground and moved back toward his lovers' side. He looked into her crazed, searching eyes, filled with panic and hatred and involuntarily felt himself shudder. He watched powerlessly as the nurse tried to hold Sevens' writhing form down on the bed to allow the Doctor to press a hypospray to the side of her neck. She collapsed almost instantly as the drug took hold and spread through her nervous system.

Chakotay looked up at the Doctor and could see the lines of concern patterned across his face. He looked at the young nurse, who seemed quite shaken by the ordeal, but had returned to her scanning of the now almost comatose form lying before her. Finally he looked down upon her. His partner, his lover, her face blank showing no signs of the torment that she must be feeling and again he shuddered as he remembered the look in her eyes. The pain, the hurt, and the anger and he wished that he could do something, anything, to help her.

"Chakotay" He looked up at the sound of the Doctors voice and into the eyes of his friend. "Perhaps it would be best if you went home, or at least got your head seen to" he said, motioning toward the graze near his left temple. "There is nothing you can do at the moment" Again the pang of guilt and frustration as the Doctor reiterated the thoughts that he already knew. "She will be out for a few hours, I'll call you as soon as she wakes up but for now there is no reason for you to be here" Anger filled his mind. No reason for him to be here? There was every reason for him to be here. His love was lying unconscious before him going through…who knew what, and he was being told to go home and forget about things.

"With all due respect Doctor, I don't think I'll be going anywhere" To underline his point he turned, picked the chair up off of the floor, returned it to its position by Sevens bedside and sat down.

He heard the Doctor sigh, but said nothing. He turned back toward Seven and again placed his hand on hers. He didn't know if it would help her, or if it would help him, but whilst he was here, and he was going nowhere, he would comfort her as best he could.

            Admiral Kathryn Janeway stormed down the hospital corridor, a nurse in tow. She could hear his voice behind her asking her to wait until she had been given permission by the duty doctor to see the patient, but she ignored him.

When she had received the message from the Doctor that Sevens' Aunt had been taken to hospital, she had told herself that she would make time to visit her and Seven. Since she had returned to Earth she had grown quite close to Sevens' Aunt Irene, and even closer, if it were possible, to Seven herself as she had finally been forced to accept all of her humanity. Now that she had heard that Seven had 'fallen ill', and was in Starfleet Medical, she felt compelled to visit.

She turned the corner leading to the room in which Seven was in to be confronted by a tall, red-haired woman in a Starfleet Medical uniform. "Admiral Janeway" began the woman now blocking her path. "I'm afraid I can't let you down here at the moment, Annika is currently under sedation and we would prefer that she receives no unauthorised visitors for the time being. Only family members and _authorised_ guests are being allowed to visit at this time" Janeway glowered at the Doctor stood before her, but forced herself to remain calm.

"I'm probably as close to family as you'll find," she stated, stepping to her side quickly to move past the doctor. To her annoyance, the Doctor moved just as quickly to block her passage.

"That may as be, but unless I'm mistaken, you're not family," she stated firmly. Janeway looked up into the doctors blue eyes and saw the same strength of will as she herself felt. Janeway sighed.

"Doctor, I understand your position but I must…"

"I realise that both you and Annika are very close" interrupted the doctor "but I cannot allow you to enter without first consulting her physician" As if on queue a voice rang out from behind the female doctor standing in front of the Admiral, bringing a smile to the Admirals face.

"Its alright Doctor Crusher" called the Doctor. "The Admiral has come at my request" Doctor Crusher turned to the Doctor, a look of annoyance on her face before turning back to Janeway.

"Very well, but you have ten minutes only. Then I want you out of my hospital, understood?"

"Of course doctor" smiled Janeway as she stepped past the taller woman and headed toward the smiling face of her friend and colleague. As she walked up to him, she looked back in time to see Crusher disappear round the corner, the nurse in tow. She turned back to the Doctor, a look of concern in her eyes. "How is she?"

"Honestly? I don't know," sighed the Doctor. "She's been asleep now for about five hours. She awoke once screaming hysterically and needed to be sedated, but I can't find anything medically wrong with her" The Admiral nodded solemnly. "The only thing I can find that is even remotely out of the ordinary is heightened activity within her cortical node, however I have no idea whether it could cause this, or any other reaction. Were you able to find anything? Any unknown signals being aimed toward Seven?" Janeway sighed and shook her head.

"I had someone run a full spectral analysis of any and all incoming signals aimed toward Earth, and we found nothing out of the ordinary," she answered. She turned to look through the open doorway into the small room in which Seven was lying, and noticed Chakotay sat next to the bed. "How long's he been here?" she asked.

"He arrived not long after I did," replied the Doctor. "When Seven awoke briefly, he was pushed from her side and grazed his head. Nothing serious, but I would rather he went home and had some rest all the same, but I can't get him to leave her side" Janeway smiled slightly and moved to enter the room. "I'll have a quick chat to him" she assured the Doctor, who stepped back to allow her entry.

As she entered the room Chakotay turned and looked toward her, a warm, yet nervous smile spread across his features as he saw who it was. She moved over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned back toward Seven. "She's been unconscious for five hours, and hasn't moved for almost three," he said in a distant voice.

"And you?" she asked warmly. He just shook his head in reply.

"I can't go anywhere whilst she's like this" he said, turning toward her, tears in his eyes. "I just …can't" She looked down at her former First Officer. His normally cheery features now tightened in worry, his dark skin looking somehow pale. She smiled warmly at him.

"Go home, get some rest. I'll stay with her 'til you come back" He opened his mouth to protest, but she said quickly "That's an order Commander" He smiled weakly at her, and nodded. She watched as he released his grasp on Sevens' hand, lent over her and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before getting up out of the seat. He turned toward his former Commanding Officer and smiled again. She just nodded and moved out of his way. She watched him as he walked over to the Doctor who reassured him that he would contact him if anything changed. Chakotay turned back to look at Janeway, but instead looked straight past her, his eyes wide. Janeway turned quickly and saw that, unnoticed by anyone else, Seven was now sitting upright and staring straight ahead, sweat pouring off her. The Admiral leaned forward and touched her lightly on the hand. "Seven" she whispered. The former drone turned toward her, her eyes staring straight through them, fear evident on her face. "Seven" she pushed "Seven, what's wrong?" As if noticing her for the first time, Seven looked straight into Janeways' eyes and said, in a cold distant voice,

"They are coming"

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A/N: Hello people, long time no…update! Yeah, sorry about that. Many problems with finding time to write between work and life, not to mention a rather big problems with re-writes and Word itself! Couldn't write anything for a time.

Anyhew, notes of importance. Yes, Dr Crusher is her off ST:TNG, for those few who haven't seen ST:Nemesis, or at least the extra scenes, she was transferring to Starfleet Medical so wouldn't be on Enterprise, so its all still canon, hooray!

Also, does anyone know a simple way of working out Stardates? I've found things that say how its done using some mathematical formula, but I'm not v good at maths so can't do it right!

Anyway, hope this didn't disappoint after the long wait and please review! CHEERS!


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